CASTLE ROCK — In front of a packed crowd in the heart of Republican country, U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman discovered Monday that it’s not just Democrats taking lumps in the health care debate.

A nurse wondered why a 15-minute heart scan cost $3,500. Another speaker pointed to a stock-option bonus paid recently to the CEO of UnitedHealth, wondering how that contributed to rising premiums.

Several asked why, if Republicans object to Democratic health care reform, they don’t have a plan of their own.

They do, Coffman said, but “the reason you don’t hear about it is the way Congress works.” He said Republican ideas have been shut out of the debate by Democratic committee chairs.

Coffman said he supports insurance reform that would make it easier for small business owners to afford to cover their employees.

He also said he believes in getting the estimated 47 million uninsured people in the country some help.

There were plenty of opponents to the Democrats’ plan in two sessions with more than 400 people in a Douglas County commissioners meeting room. The crowd applauded when speakers worried aloud that the government health care reform plan would drive up the federal deficit or cover illegal immigrants. (The bill actually contains language specifying it doesn’t cover anyone in the country illegally.)

But judging by the 30 or so questions, the surprise of the night was the support for some of the legislation’s most controversial elements — a public health insurance option among them.

Meg Young, 20, said she wants to know why having health insurance available for everyone is so controversial. Though she works full-time in food service management, she isn’t offered health insurance.

“Quite frankly, I’d like to be able to go to the doctor if I break my leg or if I’m sick,” she said.

The crowd, standing in the back and along the aisles, was prohibited from carrying signs into the room and only those who signed up to ask questions in advance were called on, keeping the gathering serene and respectful.

Outside, a few dozen protesters screamed at one another. Those against the House reform bill sang “Kumbaya” and carried signs — one read “RIP Grandma, Cause of Death: Treatment Denied!”

Sherry Hoover, 65, said the debate is more of a “power grab” by the Obama administration than it is about fixing the nation’s health care system.

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